


Help

by sunalso



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Fake dating for two seconds then it's real, Fake/Pretend Relationship, organic tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 16:57:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16223384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunalso/pseuds/sunalso
Summary: AU. Mack's about to close up his New York coffee shop for the night when his favorite customer shows up looking for a little help.





	Help

It was late, and Mack should be closing up, no one wanted coffee after eight at night. The sign said they closed at nine, and it was eight fifty-eight, but he was perched on a stool and learning how to conjugate verbs in the past tense, and it was his shop, damn it, so it didn’t matter exactly what time he started the final clean.

For being the city that didn’t sleep, the part of New York where his shop was tended to be pretty quiet once it was dark.

His finger tapped at the page of the Spanish book as he mumbled the words to himself, committing them to memory. The bell above the door jangled and Mack glanced up as the reason he was learning Spanish walked into his coffee shop. He quickly stuck the book under the counter as Elena, looking a little lost, stood just inside the door.

Mack drank her in. Unlike when she stopped by in the mornings for her usual mocha and croissant when she was fresh from a jog with her hair pulled up and wearing workout clothes, she was done up to the nines in a little black dress, sky-high heels with her hair down around her shoulders. It was much longer than he’d thought and damn, it looked good.

“Hola,” she said, and Mack hoped he hadn’t been staring.

“Hi, what can I help you with? Do you want your usual?”

She shook her head. “I’ll never sleep if I have caffeine this late. Pero…there’s something else.” She whispered the last and looked over her shoulder.

Mack’s hands tightened into fists. “Are you in some kind of trouble?” he said, coming out from behind the counter.

Elena smiled and shrugged. “No, not like that. I just…okay, my tío wants me to go out with this man, who he swears is perfect for me and my mother has started calling me and asking why I won’t and demanding to know why I’m not married and when she’s going to have grandbabies.”

“I’m guessing this guy isn’t worth your time?” Mack felt a flash of jealousy even though Elena clearly didn’t want to be going out with whoever it was. It wasn’t her fault Mack hadn’t worked up the courage to ask her out yet. “Or do you already have someone you don’t want to tell your family about?”

Elena snorted. “No, no one. And this guy is ten years older than me, divorced, and has three kids. I’m not going to marry him because he needs a nanny when his little ones visit.”

“Ah,” Mack said. “Not into kids?”

“I love them, but I’m not quite ready for that part of life yet.” She glanced behind her again. “Which is why I might have told my tío I was going out with someone tonight already.” Mack raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Elena smiled and looked up into his face. Damn her lips were kissable. “So when I found he was going to check up on me, I needed a fake date. And I immediately thought of you.”

“You did?” He was thrilled, because he’d been thinking he was invisible to her.

“You’re the best part of my morning! And you’re always ready to help me out, and one of your employees told me you weren’t seeing anybody.”

Damn it. Mack was going to have to talk to Daisy.

“What do you say, turtle-man?”

“Turtle-man? Hey, just because the name of the place is Swamp Coffee—”

“It’s because you’re slow, every morning you’re slow.”

“I thought you needed my help.”

Elena sighed. “Ayudame,” she said, then muttered “Turtle-man.”

Mack grinned. “You know I don’t take a long time making your coffee because I have to. It’s because you’re the best part of my morning, too.”

Elena’s lips parted slightly, and she brushed her hair behind her ear. “Really?”

“Yeah. And tonight, I’ll do it, but only if we get to go on a real date later.”

She grinned. “Gracias, and sí, I would love that.”

Mack went back behind the counter. “Now how about we share a cup of tea, caffeine free, and chat a bit and then go have dinner around the corner at the new Chinese place that had just opened?”

“Fried rice sounds perfect for a Friday night. And what kind of tea?”

“I’ve got an amazing selection. It’s all grown in greenhouses by a couple that lives upstate. It’s all one hundred percent organic. You won’t find anything else like it anywhere.” Mack studied the row of tins. “I think this one. It’s sweeter with a hint of vanilla.”

“Sounds okay.”

“I’ll take you on a date up there. They run a craft brewery too, best beer you’ve ever tasted.” He turned to look at Elena, finding that she’d seated herself at a table. “Though I might be getting a little ahead of myself. I don’t even know if you like beer.”

“I’m not some sissy. I can drink my brother under the table, and I like the stuff you can have for a meal.”

“Damn, woman, you are perfect.”

Elena threw her head back and laughed.

Mack carried two steaming mugs over to the table and sat across from her.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know you,” Elena said, picking up her mug and inhaling the steam.

“You already know everything: I’m slow when I’m serving a pretty woman coffee.”

She rolled her eyes and took a sip. “Delicioso. I should have known to trust you.”

Mack smiled and took a drink from his mug right as the door opened.

“Elena!” A voice boomed, and he saw her grit her teeth.

“Hola, Tío. What are you doing here?”

The man was dressed neatly and had a closely cropped gray beard. “I was worried about you and was wondering who you were seeing. Though a coffee shop at night seems like a strange date.”

“He loves me, but it’s in the smothering kind of way,” Elena said to Mack in a low voice, then she stood up. “Tío, this is Mack, and he owns the shop. As soon as he closes up, we’ll go to the Chinese place around the corner for dinner.”

“Well, that’s—” Her uncle’s eyes went wide as Mack stood. He didn’t always enjoy being as tall as he was, but sometimes it was fun. He slipped an arm around Elena for a quick hug, being careful to keep it strictly platonic for the moment no matter how tempting it was to pull her into a bear hug. She didn’t help by leaning against his side, making his breath catch.

“Let me close out the register and get everything in the fridge, and we can get going.” He walked behind the counter and started quickly breaking down the espresso machines and dumping the parts into the sink to wash in the morning.

“How long have you known my niece?” Elena’s uncle asked.

“A few months now,” Mack said. He stopped and pulled out his _Learn Spanish for Dummies_ book from under the counter and held it up. “She’s been an inspiration, though I still sound like a dummy when I try to say anything.”

He caught sight of Elena putting a hand over her mouth before she ducked her head. “Gracias por aprender.”

“De nada.”

Her uncle mostly looked confused. “I’ll head home then, Elena. Call me tomorrow.” He fixed Mack with a glare. “You be good to my niece.”

“Always.”

He left, and Mack went to lock the door behind him, turning off the outside lights for good measure. Elena was cradling her mug as she grinned at Mack.

“You’re full of surprises,” she said. “Maybe we can start that real date now? It’s later.”

He chuckled. “I do have to count out the register, sweep up, that sort of thing.”

Elena shrugged a shoulder. “You helped me, so now I help you. Or we could order food and just stay here and talk.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’d like that. But not too late. I have to get up and get my coffee in the morning you know.”

Mack shook his head. “Wouldn’t want you to be late. But you should know I’m already planning to take extra-long to make it tomorrow.”

Elena walked over and stood on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. “Perfecto…Turtle-man.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make me and my muse happy! I'm on tumblr as [ @sunalsolove ](https://sunalsolove.tumblr.com)


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